Are your customers rewarding you? Or are they punishing you?

We are in a business era that is dominated by the customer. Customers have become more demanding. They are not willing to put up with excuses. Forrester Research has an interesting take on customer experience in their 2017 predictions:

Today’s customers reward or punish companies based on a single experience — a single moment in time. This behavior was once a Millennial trademark, but it’s now in play for older generations. It has become normal.

Forrester refers to our current business climate as “The Age of the Customer.” This is true for B2C business and also true for B2B businesses, especially managed service providers (MSPs). Customers are a lot less willing to understand the service provider’s limitations. Furthermore, the idea that the customer will understand a service providers misstep because, “we’ve provided them with good service for years,” is outdated in an age where customers are more willing to switch vendors.

How do you get ‘out in front’ of this problem? You need feedback from your customers as close as possible to the service delivery event. If you are an MSP and use a ticketing system, once a ticket is closed you need to give the customer an opportunity to provide feedback. Detailed questionnaires at the end of the year are too late. So are frantic calls to the customer after they announce they are terminating the relationship and moving on.

There are plenty of opportunities to collect feedback as you on-board the customer, as well. You do not have to wait until a contract has started and service has been provided. Getting feedback on your customer visits and your closing the business deal are also opportunities to make sure you are starting on the right foot. Again, quoting Forrester1:

Customers who experience disgust, anger, or a feeling of neglect during a brand interaction are about eight times more likely not to forgive that company.

For more information on collecting feedback as close as possible to a service event with micro-feedback visit www.reputada.com.